Brighton Fan Would Take Draw Against Leeds

You’ve got off to flying start this season, what have you made of life Championship so far and do you believe Brighton’s good start can continue?

You’re right, it’s been a great start, better than anyone could realistically expect! Our defeat at Leicester last weekend shows we do have some weaknesses though, a reminder to some supporters that we’re not quite the finished article. But it’s promising stuff, and as long as Gus hangs around, there’s no reason we can’t keep it up and finish the season challenging for play-offs at the very least.

What were your hopes/expectations for this season? Have they changed considering your good start?

Most of us would have been happy with survival (especially if we beat Palace on the way!), although some optimists spoke of replicating Norwich last year. After our start though, most supporters are hopeful of at least a top half finish, and if things continue as they have been, then a promotion push certainly looks a possibility. Again though, this entirely depends on Gus staying with us!

It will be Leeds’ first visit to the new Amex Stadium on Friday, what can we expect from it?

Well, at the moment there’s a few teething problems getting supporters to and from the stadium. We’d advise you take the train, but don’t expect to get out straight away – hang around for a beer afterwards if you can. The ground itself though is fantastic. Away concourses are lit up to match the colour your team wears, and real ale and locally made pies are available too. We highly recommend the pies. The stadium is noisy, and a million times better than Withdean. Fans might notice a few gaps in the stadium that we hope to fill in at a later date to make the stadium even bigger. Some away fans have complained that the view from the away end is too low however. Clearly, they never made it to Withdean! Oh, and you can expect a powerpoint presentation of Leeds United legends on the concourse walls as well!

Leeds fans will be familiar with Casper Ankergren in goal for Brighton, what have you made of his time at Brighton and who else should we be keeping an eye out for on Friday night?

After dropping a clanger on his home debut, most Albion fans have warmed to Casper now. He’s a big part of our pass and move play as he’s so comfortable with the ball at his feet. The facts don’t lie, our defense has looked superb with him between the sticks, both last season and this season. Having said that, he doesn’t look too confident coming from crosses, and when he does have to play it long his kicking isn’t the greatest. But it does seem strange that Leeds didn’t think he’d be up to The Championship.

Other players to look out for? Craig Noone is our tricky winger who has been on fire this season, while Mackail-Smith’s energy and LuaLua’s pace are capable of terrorising any defence

Gus Poyet is another familiar face after his time as assistant manager at Elland Road. He’s obviously done exceptionally well in his time so far at Brighton, what do you personally make of him as a manager?

There’s not an Albion fan who doesn’t love the man. The whole club revolves around Gus, and his philosophy of pass and move football. It took supporters a while to get use to all the short passing around our defence, but after the success of last season nobody could criticise it now. He’s been a total revelation. The only worry is that it’s surely only a matter of time before a big club come in for him.

If you could sign one current Leeds player for Brighton, who would it be?

We still haven’t forgotten the way Snodgrass tore us a new one at Withdean a couple of years ago. Yep, probably him, although obviously any club in the league would want Becchio up front.

Finally, what’s your prediction for the game? I’ll take a point!

I think we’d take a point also, as long as we don’t have any injuries for the match against arch rivals Crystal Palace next week. We might be a little tired after facing Liverpool on Wednesday as well, so 2-2 doesn’t sound an unlikely scoreline!

It doesn’t take much to move around our defence. I think we’ll have to play our best game yet to be any hope. Fingers crossed we don’t lose a player to a reckless frustrated challenge. LuaLua must be licking his chops at playing against Kisnorbo, who appears to be running like a mongoloid since the injury. Maybe we should look at getting him some carbon fibre prosthetic legs like Oscar Pistorius aka ‘the Blade runner’. Oh Jesus, look at the shite I’m dribbling……all because we haven’t invested.

Anyone planning to travel down today by train for tonight’s match – there is a major problem in the Gatwick area which is set to last all day. Brighton bound trains are terminating at Gatwick/Three Bridges then there is some sort of ‘rail replacement’ service on to Haywards Heath, then train to Brighton. On the plus side if you’re planning to spend the weekend down here, its sunny and warm. MOT

Watching this online and cannot escape the conclusion that Grayson will never assemble even a moderately effective defence. Hard to believe he was a defender. The defence has been garbage for almost 2 years and we seem no nearer a solution. Almost every successful team has a solid defence to build from but it’s as if we’re trying to build a house without foundations.

need dropping = lees ,bromby snodgrass
need moving =Pugh left back ,white l/m
howson just about saved himself
Larry sorry n all that going back over old ground either needs to sort out the defence or f@#k off out of here in fact just the latter this has gone on long enough nearly 3 seasons now we can argue all day but its glaringly obvious to all but him its alright saying he knows but there is knowing and doing something about it ….

Spot on. That is the worst game I have ever seen by a defender. The
reason Grayson was so happy when we levelled is that he knew he was
sacked if we lost it. Every single fan and commentator in the country is
talking about our defensive problems and have been for nearly a year.
It’s unfair for everyone, let alone our strikers and the goalkeeper. The
spirit is there, but Grayson is not the man to take us forward. I’ve
been a fan of his, but enough is enough. As for Nunez, he has obviously
got on the wrong side of Grayson and we the fans will suffer.

Aidy White did well and looks like he wants more time on the ball. Snodgrass looks lethargic. We can’t carry players who are not on song in the midfield areas. No time for favourites in this league. Well done Keogh and McCormack. My apologies for having to work in front of the worst defence we’ve ever had.

It is clear following Grayson’s comments to Sky after the game that he has lost it -“We work on it in training but maybe it is down to pshchological problems”. Bottom line is none of the center halfs are good enough to be successful in Championship. This game was won at H/T – they should have been contained after the break and we would have got another on the break as the get frustrated. O’dea is not good enough for Celtic / Ipswich so is not going to be good enough for us and the rest are leauge 1. Time is up on Grayson – the team almost there – just need that commanding Center half and a manager who can get then organised.

simon grayson has not had a starting since he came to the club.then listening his comments in post match interviews worries the football fan.then the posts and comments from e gray and p lorimer makes it even more worrying.this team or teams that mr grayson is trying to put together with other peoples hand me downs wont build a team for the future.you notice too that all theses players get injured quiet quickly.well christmas/january will give a bigger view of whats coming our way….and you know its more goals in the back of the leeds net…..leeeeeeeedds.

I have always rated Bromby as a decent player, but I am sure I saw him at fault a few times this match…. It seems he is a solid decent defender who makes only a couple mistakes per game…… Unfortunately, when he does they are frigging important ones!!! I think the result would definitely gone in our favour had we had signed even one quality centre-back during the transfer window.